Fire blankets have been utilized for putting out fires or for protection of valuable items. However, the fireproof asbestos of which such blankets were made is ecologically harmful in its own right and is no longer utilized. Blankets of other fireproof materials are either exceedingly expensive or do not maintain their fireproof capability for the extended periods of time necessary for smothering difficult to control fires such as oil well-head fires. In addition, lightweight fire blankets either do not provide a proper air-tight seal for an effective use or are susceptible to being blown off by the hot air currents generated by fuel fed fires such as well-head fires.
Blankets which have been wetted, while effective in many applications, are however not useful for long term protective use since the contained water is subject to evaporation over periods of time or is insufficient because of the limited absorption afforded by the blanket materials.